No way to Macedonia
From Our Own Correspondent
BBC
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 17 March 2016
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Refugees stuck in Greece keep trying to cross into Macedonia even though the border is now closed. One man has got through the fence, and then been taken back, fourteen times. In the meantime, new Syrian refugees keep arriving at the other end of Greece, on the island of Lesbos. We hear about hopes that a Basque pro-independence leader newly released from prison can bring about real peace in his region, and not just a permanent ceasefire. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and in drought-stricken eastern Kenya, cattle herders feel they have no option but to let their animals graze in game reserves. Who says Americans haven't been able to go to Cuba legally? In Florida's Key West, we hear how despite the embargo, some US citizens have been doing it for decades, without breaking the law. And if you fall for a money-making scam of a boy begging near the rock-carved churches of Lalibela in northern Ethiopia, don't feel too bad.....
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Thank you for downloading this edition of From Our Own Correspondent from the BBC. |
| 0:05.7 | It was first broadcast on the 17th of March 2016. |
| 0:09.9 | Here to introduce the programme is Kate A.D. |
| 0:13.0 | Hello. |
| 0:14.0 | Today, can one man make a difference? |
| 0:16.4 | In Spain, a pro-independence leader leaves prison, and hopes are raised he'll bring about permanent |
| 0:22.1 | peace to the Bas country. In Kenya a |
| 0:25.4 | drought is driving cattle herders to encroach on game reserves. A trip to Cuba |
| 0:31.8 | up to now most Americans have been wary, if not hostile towards the island, |
| 0:37.0 | but some have been traveling there for decades. And from Ethiopia, a cautionary tale from the ancient rock-carved churches of Lallybella. |
| 0:47.0 | Today David Cameron's in Brussels discussing the migrant crisis yet again. |
| 0:52.0 | 132,000 have already arrived in Greece this year, and thousands are now trapped there, with |
| 0:58.7 | the threat of being returned if they breach the Macedonian border to the north. |
| 1:03.0 | The Camp Adi D'Idomeni has now over 10,000 people, |
| 1:06.9 | and Danny Savage has been looking at their situation. |
| 1:10.4 | Deep in thought, under an umbrella in the rain, I didn't notice the Syrian man in his 60s who joined me to seek shelter |
| 1:17.0 | I jumped when I realized he was right next to me well and truly in my personal space |
| 1:22.4 | He studied me nodded and smiled as though it well and truly in my personal space. |
| 1:22.8 | He studied me, nodded and smiled as though it was the perfectly normal thing to be doing. |
| 1:27.5 | He was wearing a warm hat, a smart wool coat and pinstrip trousers. |
| 1:31.8 | We could have been two businessmen at a bus stop. |
| 1:34.1 | Instead, there we were, I was a European journalist trying to understand his world |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

